Santa Rosa County

Officials from Santa Rosa County are crafting a strategy to encourage and manage retail development. Shannon Ogletree, the Director of Economic Development for Santa Rosa County says because the county is growing so fast, officials want to produce guidelines so retail development is planned and not haphazard. Ogletree, along with County Commissioner Jayer Williamson and Milton City Manager Brian Watkins recently attended an international retail convention in Las Vegas to begin the process of forming a retail strategy for Santa Rosa County.

A series of workshops have been scheduled over the next two weeks to help area homeowners fight what has been called a breed of “super termites.” Florida Representative Doug Broxson will be hosting the four free workshop around the area to warn homeowners and help them prepare for these pests.

The deadline for residents in Santa Rosa County to apply for money from the RESTORE Act for their projects is this Friday. Because of that, there are calls going out not to get in the paperwork by Thursday.

“A special note on that deadline,” said Sheila Fitzgerald, the county’s Grants Director. “We do realize that it is the Good Friday holiday. So we are encouraging anyone that is planning to submit a proposal to try and get that in if at all possible by Thursday. That way, if they run into any technical issues, there will be staff on hand.”

Major road projects, and their price tags, are forcing the Santa Rosa County Commission to explore new ways to pay for them. One possible solution is raising the county’s gasoline tax.

Commission Chairman Don Salter says the need stems from the loss of road project money from the Florida Department of Transportation's Small County Outreach Program. Once providing more than $7 million, or 75% of funding for eligible projects, the payouts ended when the county’s population grew beyond eligibility standards.

The Florida Department of Health in Santa Rosa County is offering a new program, aimed at heading off the onset of Type-2 diabetes in those most prone to develop the disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three American adults has pre-diabetes.

“Pre-diabetes means that your blood sugar on average is higher than it should be, but it’s not yet at the threshold for a diagnosis of diabetes,” said Sandra Park-O’Hara, Administrator of the Department of Health in Santa Rosa.

Santa Rosa County residents in search of RESTORE Act funding for their projects can begin submitting their requests as of Monday. About $4.4 million is available.

Passed by Congress in 2012, the RESTORE Act diverts 80% of any civil and administrative Clean Water Act penalties related to the 2010 BP oil spill to the five Gulf Coast states, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, for ecological and economic restoration.

Santa Rosa County is asking the state for $8 million for a major renourishment project on Navarre Beach. Roger Blaylock, a Santa Rosa County Engineer and Navarre Beach Director says there have been signs of erosion on the beach and the county has requested funds from the state to rebuild the entire beach.

The loss of millions of dollars in state grant money for road projects next year, is prompting the Santa Rosa County Commission to explore other revenue streams. One possibility is a hike in the county’s gas tax.